Wow, you got incredibly lucky! I reckon it must depend on the force placed upon the jacket in storage after pressing aswell. Ten is nothing special at all and sounds rather flat, sounds like sourced from DAT or something...
Ok, sorry for the lengthy response. I wouldn't ever recommend only trusting Amazon reviews. Hell, this site probably has the best and most essential information anywhere. That's why we're all here.
Stupidly I realized I already have Binaural on CD and on my IPod. I did a little Pearl Jam mini marathon the last few days, listening to all of the newer ones except for Riot Act. I like Avacado and Binaural about equally but find that Backspacer and Lightning Bolt both beat them. Yield and No Code get my vote for probably their last truly amazing output. Still all the stuff in the last 10-12 years is great.
I really dislike most of Lightning Bolt. I love Sirens but for very personal reasons and Yellow Moon is great but is better suited as an Eddie solo song. Backspacer is not enjoyable as an album but live some of those songs really work for me. Overall I agree. They are imo the worst of Pearl Jam albums.
I really like Pearl Jam’s albums in the order they were released. VS and Vitalogy could be flip-flopped depending on the day. As could No Code and Yield.
That's the great thing about a band like Pearl Jam, opinions are all over the place and there are no wrong answers. I have read opinions that Vs., No Code, or Yield somehow exceed Ten which I find to just be preposterous and ridiculous statement but hey, to each his own. For me Ten stands alone as a monstrous achievement and really far above the rest. They never again reached the originality, passion, or heaviness that exploded on Ten. That said, in no way am I dismissing all of their later work as I like/love it all. I have thought before that each sucessive album was slightly worse than the one that preceeded it. One could make that argument.
For Ten you have to search out an original early copy, either U.S., or I can strongly recommend the Korean pressing, sounds beautifully fantastic and better than the CD. I think I paid around $60-70 so it will cost you a bit.
I don’t have an original yet but i want to add the cassette sounds great to me! I have my original tape and have bought four more through the years at half price books for a quarter. I think they sound great!
I really like both backspacer and lightning bolt and the lightning bolt vinyl was fun with the booklet and stickers and gatefold.
I think they're both light years (no pun intended) better than Binaural or Riot Act. I agree Eddie should save his acoustic tracks for solo projects though. They're okay songs, but I'm not crazy about Pearl Jam songs that don't feature the majority of Pearl Jam playing on them. And PJ can do quiet and mellow pretty well, like "Nothingman" and "Indifference," so there's really no need for a solo acoustic track.
If someone had never heard of Pearl Jam, I would definitely point them at Ten first. I'm only speaking for myself here, but I can't be alone in this...it's the album I play the least, just because I'm still burned out on the big hits from constant airplay in the 90's. Like, I probably listen to Pearl Jam at least a couple times a month, but I don't ever go "Man, I really want to hear 'Even Flow.'" (I do still dig the hell out of "Once" and "Why Go" though, and "Release" never gets old. But none of those got much radio play or had videos) So for me, No Code and Yield are my clear favorites...as they've been the most rewarding and revealing to me over time.
I can agree it was overplayed (as was Nirvana) but still an awesome and enjoyable listening experience from start to finish, especially on vinyl. I also agree for the same reasons I do probably play it less than the others although still on a semi-regular basis.
Many times I feel the same way. There is something that just clicks with me with Lightning Bolt, maybe because I've heard it more, not sure. I'm gonna keep listening to Binaural and Avacado though to see if they grow on me.
If I ever saw a reasonable price on a good sounding vintage pressing I'd definitely jump on it. Maybe it'd rekindle my interest in some of those songs. I just definitely feel some burnout with a lot of my favorite bands' biggest songs as I approach 40.
Avacado is solid. Definitely was a step back towards the right direction after their two weakest albums. I still enjoy it quite a bit, sound issues aside.
Lost Dogs also misses one of my fav b-sides, Leatherman. I've been revisiting a lot of PJ lately and was surprised how well Yield, Riot Act and Avocado still stand up today. Really excellent, under-appreciated stuff!
Anyone who has all of the latest batch, how does Avocado stack up sound wise against Binaural and Riot Act. I have those two but debating on Avocado....how does it sound compared?
FINALLY got shipment notification for my order (Riot Act, Binaural, Ten , Save You single), except for Avocado.
It boggles my mind completely that anyone could find "Lightning Bolt" a better album than "Binaural". The difference in quality is staggering. But to each his own.
Any Pearl Jam album is better than Binaural and Riot Act for me. There's some decent tracks on those two, but neither individually justify their running time. Lightning Bolt isn't my favorite, but I find it a more enjoyable listen than anything PJ did in the early aughts.